Engagement ring styles

[sylorna]

what's the history on puzzle rings?

I want to wear a red wedding gown too....sounds like a good time to me!

I've been looking at garnet rings as of late....so my suggestion might be to look at some of the gemstones, they're less expensive and have such beautiful colours!

 

[lsanders]

I, too, plan on going the non-traditional route with my ring. I want the center stone to be aquamarine, preferably an oval one, with some diamonds around it.

I definitely prefer an old-fashioned style, like these:

This one's nice, even though it's rectangular.

Same for this one, but it's round.

This one's my favorite, even though it's round.

Another stone I like is green tourmaline- it's like a less expensive emerald, but I think the subtle color difference is actually nicer than an emerald:

This is a nice oval one, and if I do decide on the aquamarine, I could do an oval one similar to this.

I really like the scrollwork on this one.

Originally Posted by Sylorna

...so my suggestion might be to look at some of the gemstones, they're less expensive and have such beautiful colours!

Definitely part of the reason I'm doing a gemstone- I think you get really pretty colors for less money than if you bought the "real" version of the stone- you can get really gorgeous green tourmaline for the cost of a low-quality emerald.

On a general jewelry note, I usually don't like blue topaz (I like the icier blue color of aquamarine) but I found out there's different types of blue topaz- right now I'm drooling over a necklace they sell at Costco (!) with a London Blue Topaz pendant. It's sort of a dark, blue-green color. I can't find a picture of it, but here's a similar one:

 

[laureen227]

Originally Posted by Sylorna

my suggestion might be to look at some of the gemstones, they're less expensive and have such beautiful colours!

no, i haven't gotten engaged! but i do have an engagement ring. it was my grandmother's, & she left it to me since i was the only granddaughter who has never gotten one. my grandfather got her this set on [i think] their 25th anniversary. it's a emerald cut solitaire w/a baguette on each side. the matching band also has a baguette per side. they interlock - altho she had them welded together, so i wear both [on my right hand]. should i ever get married, i'll use them, but switch hands.
my sister's engagement ring was [originally] what was called an iridescent topaz. it was rather the color of champagne. she wore as a wedding band my grandmother's original wedding band, a thin, plain gold band.
i'll post a pic of my set in just a minute - i have to take one, first!

 

[laureen227]

i already had a pic uploaded to photobucket!

btw, my sister's engagement stone wasn't an iridescent topaz - it was an incandescent topaz. she's had to replace the stone, tho - topaz [quartz] just isn't as tough as diamond is. she's replaced it w/a different topaz [topaz is her birthstone].

 

[brandi]

this is mine

It is both traditional and non traditional...traditional in the way that it is a diamond but non-traditional in the way that it is the exact same ring my dad gave my mom after he passed away and I met DH mom gave it to him to propose to me with ...so it means the absolute world to me!

 

[2dogmom]

Originally Posted by Sylorna

what's the history on puzzle rings?

Check the link that Sarahp posted.

The legend:

The story is told that in ancient times a Turkish Nobleman was so in love with his wife that he wanted to be sure she was faithful to him while he was away. He asked his jeweler to make a puzzle ring for his wife that would fall apart when removed, and he would not tell her the solution.

Like #1, he was worried about her being faithful, and
#2, she was too dumb to put the thing back together without him telling her. I had heard that one so it doesn't appeal to me as an engagement ring. I did have one for fun as a kid though.

I like the titanium one better.

 

[addiebee]

If I ever get married, I don't know what kind of ring I would want. I waffle back and forth between simple and elegant, and vintagey looking. I think it depends on how it would look on my hand. I do like colored stones, including colored diamonds. There is always my mom's engagement ring. It was my father's mother's ring... but she says the ring is cursed (!) and never wanted any of her girls to use it. (My grandma died very young!)

So I have contemplated using it as a right-hand ring or maybe trading it in, should the occasion present itself.

 

[laureen227]

Originally Posted by AddieBee

If I ever get married, I don't know what kind of ring I would want. I waffle back and forth between simple and elegant, and vintagey looking. I think it depends on how it would look on my hand. I do like colored stones, including colored diamonds. There is always my mom's engagement ring. It was my father's mother's ring... but she says the ring is cursed (!) and never wanted any of her girls to use it. (My grandma died very young!)

So I have contemplated using it as a right-hand ring or maybe trading it in, should the occasion present itself.

i'd wear it as a right hand ring. i don't think you ever get decent value on trade-ins.

 

[u8myufo]

There are some lovely Irish Celtic rings to be had, but be prepared to fork out a few dollars

 

[twstychik]

Originally Posted by 2dogmom

Non-traditional here.

I work with my hands a lot and use tools so the last thing I need is something with a gem sticking out. Hubby designed a ring just for me (how 'bout THAT

)

I don't work with my hands per say but I am very hard on my rings which he knows and I wanted something that I would never need to take off. That said, the design in so deep and intricate that I do have to remove it when applying lotion otherwise it gets really yucky and I end up having to rinse it (and the lotion) off.

This is the top... Yes, they are diamonds because he asked me if I wanted them and I said yes. He was engaged twice before so he used the stones from both and the platinum from one plus an addition platinum band t have this one made.

And the bottom... he designed the WHOLE thing and the inscription says 2 fluttering hearts united 4 infinity.


I paired it with a plain palladium (like platinum but cheaper) for my wedding band. I LOVE the butterflies and it's been an ongoing theme in our relationship. The first ring he ever bought me was this one and they even became part of our wedding theme.

Originally Posted by sarahp

What about puzzle rings? They aren't traditional, but they're fun, and look really nice!

I LOVE puzzle rings but HATE putting them together.

 

[sylorna]

Originally Posted by lsanders

Definitely part of the reason I'm doing a gemstone- I think you get really pretty colors for less money than if you bought the "real" version of the stone- you can get really gorgeous green tourmaline for the cost of a low-quality emerald.

On a general jewelry note, I usually don't like blue topaz (I like the icier blue color of aquamarine) but I found out there's different types of blue topaz- right now I'm drooling over a necklace they sell at Costco (!) with a London Blue Topaz pendant. It's sort of a dark, blue-green color. I can't find a picture of it, but here's a similar one:

I'm going through a phase right now where I am dead in love with Garnet (will go nicely with the red wedding gown lol). I really liked that green tourmaline too!

My parents have cashmere sapphires in their rings....a dark dark aquamarine colour. The stones are pretty but I'm not big on their settings.

But then I tend to be the opposite of you and I like darker coloured stones better than lighter.

Watermelon tourmaline would be pretty in a ring too!

 

[carolpetunia]

I got married in 1975... and rather than deal with the evil diamond industry, we had simple silver bands made, and the engagement ring was set with a round moonstone. Total cost was about $100, and although moonstones are very soft, mine survived a lot longer than the marriage did.

http://engagementrings.lovetoknow.co...gagement_Rings

 

[whiteforest]

Speaking of evil diamond industry, my diamonds are also conflict free.

 

[miss mew]

Here is my ring, it's white and yellow gold

 

[2dogmom]

Here's mine! You can see where I even damaged the emerald!

 

[pippy-pops]

Originally Posted by sarahp

This is my engagement ring

Edit to add: I also wear my rings "back to front", with the engagement ring on first, and then the wedding band. Apparently the wedding band is supposed to go on first so it's "closest to your heart" or something... My engagement ring is a little big, but couldn't get resized any smaller as it's quite fine, so I have to wear the wedding band on top to make sure the engagement ring doesn't fall off

Although I'm not married... yet... but my fiance gave me an eternity ring pretty much a year to the day before he asked me to marry him. The eternity ring is worn in front of my engagement ring (that being the engagement ring on first and eternity ring in front of that!). When we do get married, our wedding ring will be a plain band and all three rings will be soldered together to form one ring, with the wedding band going on behind the engagement ring!

As far as non-traditional rings go, (mine isn't... but it is a classic engagement ring with one single raised diamond on a gold band), my mother just had a plain gold band as her engagement ring, then when they got married, they sunk a single diamond into the band. When we came along (my sister and I) a few years apart, they sunk our birth stones on either side of the diamond. It's amazing to think that one day, when I have children, my mother will do the same with their birth stones on that ring... it'll be a true family heirloom one day!

 

[skyecat0117]

http://www.tiffany.com/Engagement/It...x?sku=19475247


This is my dream ring. I love pink and I think a pink engagement ring would be the perfect statement for me. Of course considering there's no price listed here my SO would just laugh at me.

 

[catlover19]

Originally Posted by SkyeCat0117

http://www.tiffany.com/Engagement/It...x?sku=19475247


This is my dream ring. I love pink and I think a pink engagement ring would be the perfect statement for me. Of course considering there's no price listed here my SO would just laugh at me.

I would be so afraid of losing those diamonds. That ring is really pretty but there is too many diamonds in it. I'd be checking it every 5 seconds to make sure they haven't fallen out.

 

[kluchetta]

Originally Posted by catlover19

I would be so afraid of losing those diamonds. That ring is really pretty but there is too many diamonds in it. I'd be checking it every 5 seconds to make sure they haven't fallen out.

No kidding! That center stone is like 5 carats!

I'll bet it costs like a million dollars!

 

[meowers]

I have a single 1ct princess cut diamond on a gold band. Don't know what kind of wedding band we'll do. Who cares what people think, engagement styles change, and you can always put the diamond (or whatever) in a different setting later. I'll probably change my solitaire into a muti stone setting when we get married next year.

If you do get a diamond, the four C's are more important than size. I could have had a bigger diamond, but beacuse it's 99% perfect, it's so sparkly allll the time( even when dirty) and always will be. Just being engaged is happy enough, don't worry about the rings. Congrats!